Capcom’s E.X. Troopers may not be the latest or biggest Japanese 3DS game around, but it’s certainly no less worthy of inclusion here than any other game we’ve previously covered on Matters of Import and — as this and its high-resolution PS3 port are the only E.X. Troopers games so far — it is sadly still...

Thanks to Sega’s continuing support of the 3DS Virtual Console service we now have all three Game Gear Shining Force games available to buy on Nintendo’s much loved handheld — in Japan, at least.
The emulation is so consistently brilliant on the 3DS it’s hardly worth mentioning these days: we’ll...

In an utterly baffling move, Dragon Quest X — the most recent game in the iconic RPG series — is not only import-only but also IP blocked, meaning the game will refuse to work for all legitimate users trying to play from outside Japan. Luckily, there are ways to get your foreign internet connection to disguise itself...

Considering the intense critical and commercial acclaim Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan has been receiving, the emergence of a game based on the events portrayed in the anime and manga series was more of a question of “when”, rather than “if”. The more surprising news is...

Puzzle & Dragons is popular wherever it’s available, but perhaps in its native Japan most of all. GungHo’s cash cow not only has regular tie-ins with big franchises like Monster Hunter, Taiko no Tatsujin and Hunter X Hunter, but has also generated an extensive range of merchandise...

Monster Hunter 4 is the latest and greatest in Capcom’s endlessly popular series of wildlife-bothering games, bringing even more areas to explore and new monsters to turn into breastplates and boots. Thankfully hunters come prepared for these new challenges with two new weapon types and the all-new ability...

Twenty one years ago, Game Boy fans were graced with the wonderful Link’s Awakening, an action-adventure classic that has quite rightfully taken its place in gaming history as one of the greatest games in both the Game Boy’s library and The Legend of Zelda series. But a year before that, Japanese gamers...

Like Magic the Gathering and Dynasty Warriors after a stint in a blender

Sangokushi Taisen is a long-running and popular series in Japanese arcades, its initially strange mix of collectable trading cards and real-time strategy turning out to not only be incredibly good fun but also commercially successful; it has spawning multiple sequels,...

Nintendo’s Virtual Console service has been a constant treasure trove of classic gaming for many years now, covering hundreds of titles across some of the greatest systems to ever exist. It’s thrown up more than a few unexpected surprises along the way too – including this Japan-only port of the...

Sega's Shining Force series is still well thought of, even if the PS2 instalments arguably got off on the wrong foot by drastically rewriting series canon and deviating from the strategic gameplay found in older titles. Evidently someone was buying these games anyway, as after four entries on the...